Big Horn Basin

 Photos

From Wyoming Tales and Trails

This Page: Meeteetse continued from previous page, Pitchfork Ranch, C. J. Belden, Black-Footed Ferrets.

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Winter Cattle Drive on the Pitchfork, photo by Charles J. Belden

In 1903, Otto Franc, owner of the Pitchfork was found dead of a gunshot wound. He rifle was leaning against a barbed wire fence. The death was ruled to be accidental. The ranch was sold to Louis Graham Phelps (1859-1922), owner of the Z Bar T. The ranch, in part due to the promotion and photographs of Charles J. Belden (1886-1966), Phelps' son-in-law, became famous in the 1930's as a dude ranch, hosting, among others, Amelia Earhart and Will Rogers.


Trail Herd on the Pitchfork, photo by Charles J. Belden

Charles Belden was born in California and was a 1909 graduate of the Massachusett Institute of Technology. Following graduation, Belden and classmate Eugene Phelps, Louis G. Phelps' son, toured Germany, Italy, and Russia in a new Packard automobile. An account of that journey later appeared as , An American Motorist in the Land of the Czar." Belden's interest in photography was sparked when he purchased a Zeiss Palmes camera to record the journey. In 1912, Belden married Eugene's sister Frances. He began early experimentation with color photography. Several of his color photographs were published as part of a book on the 1915 Pan-American Exposition. A journey through the Sierra Nevada by automobile was featured in Scribner's, "Motoring in the High Sierras." Belden's western photography first came to national attention in 1918 with an article in Scribner's, "The Motor in Yellowstone." which featured a color photograph of the Falls. He also wrote several articles on the technical aspects of photography, including an early article on color photography.

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Left, Western Entrance, Court of the Universe
Right,"Through the Eastern Arch"

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Left, South Bay of the Court of the Universe
right, Yellowstone Falls, 1918
Autochromes by Charles J. Belden

Autochromes were invented by Auguste and Louis Lumière in 1904 and came on the market in 1907. The use of the autochrome process was very expensive, using specially prepared glass plates. The plates were coated with translucent potato granules dyed in the three primary colors. The plates cost some twelve-times the cost of black and white plates. It may be that Belden's interest in the autochrome process was sparked at M.I.T. where a demonstration of the new process was given in 1908 by a representative of the Lumière Brothers. It was not, however, until Belden began publishing photographs of everyday life on the Pitchfork that he and the ranch achieved lasting fame. His photos from the Pitchfork have ranked him as one of the great western photographers along with William Henry Jackson and C. D. Kirkland.

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Left, Cover of Grazing Bulletin, United States Department of the Interior, December 1937

Belden photographs were featured in many national publications including National Geographic, Life Magazine, and The Saturday Evening Post As indicated by the cover of the Grazing Bulletin, some were on the covers including the photo on the top of the next page which appeared on the cover of Live Magazine. The right hand photo above is indicative of Belden's interest in aviation, a theme, as discussed on subsequent pages, used repeatedly.

Next page: Meeteetse continued, more Belden photos.